Bhagavad Gita 13.6
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 6 of 34
महाभूतान्य् अहंकारो बुद्धिर् अव्यक्तम् एव च / इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः
mahābhūtāny ahaṃkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca / indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca pañca cendriya-gocarāḥ
Five elements, ego, intellect, unmanifest — plus ten senses, mind, five sense-objects: the kṣetra enumerated.
Word by word (6)
- mahā-bhūtāni
- — the great elements (pañca-mahā-bhūtas: space/ākāśa, air/vāyu, fire/agni, water/ap, earth/pṛthvī) · The five foundational gross elements from which all matter is composed. In Sāṃkhya, they arise from the tanmātras (subtle sense-essences). The 'mahā' (great) indicates they are the substrate of the entire manifest universe.
- ahaṃkāraḥ
- — ego, the I-maker — the principle of self-identification that creates the sense of 'I am this body/mind' · Ahaṃkāra = aham (I) + kāra (maker). The subtle principle that appropriates experience as 'mine.' In Sāṃkhya, ahaṃkāra is the 3rd tattva (after Puruṣa and Prakṛti/Mahat). It generates both the senses and the subtle elements.
- buddhiḥ
- — intellect, discriminating intelligence — the faculty that cognizes, judges, and decides · The 2nd tattva in the Sāṃkhya sequence (also called mahat — the great principle). Buddhi is the clearest mirror of consciousness: when purified, it reflects the kṣetrajña (Self) without distortion. The Gita's goal is buddhi-śuddhi — purification of this faculty.
- avyaktam
- — the unmanifest — mūla-prakṛti, the primordial undifferentiated matrix of all matter · The root of the entire manifest world, called avyakta because it has no perceptible form. In Sāṃkhya it is the 24th tattva (or the 1st from the top). This is prakṛti in its primal state, the cosmic creative ground before any differentiation.
- indriyāṇi daśa ekaṃ ca
- — the ten senses and the one (manas) — ten cognitive/active sense organs plus the coordinating mind · The ten senses = 5 jñānendriyas (knowledge organs: eyes/cakṣus, ears/śrotra, nose/ghrāṇa, tongue/rasanā, skin/tvak) + 5 karmendriyas (action organs: speech/vāk, hands/pāṇi, feet/pāda, excretion/pāyu, reproduction/upastha). 'The one' = manas, the coordinator that channels sense data to buddhi.
- pañca ca indriya-gocarāḥ
- — the five objects of the senses — sound, touch, form, taste, smell · The pañca-tanmātras as experienced: śabda (sound), sparśa (touch), rūpa (form/sight), rasa (taste), gandha (smell). These are the 'pasture' (go-cara = where the senses graze) of the indriya-cattle. Together the enumeration in V6 gives 5+1+1+1+10+1+5 = 24 foundational tattvas.
The great elements, the I-sense, the intellect, and the unmanifest; the ten senses and the one mind that coordinates them; and the five objects of the senses —
A modern analogy
Imagine listing every component in a car: engine parts, fuel, wiring, seats, dashboard gauges — that's kṣetra. The driver watching all this from behind the wheel is kṣetrajña. This verse lists the car's components; the next verse describes its operational states — desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, and the rest.
What it does NOT mean
People assume that intellect (buddhi) and ego (ahaṃkāra) are the 'real self.' The Gita is radical: even buddhi is part of the field, part of the car — not the driver.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
[V6 absent from SW indexed — SW 13.5 MISSING] [4]
[Arnold full chapter text; verse covers the twenty-four Sānkhya categories of the Field] [7]
The great elements, egoism, the understanding, the unperceived also, the ten senses and the one, and the five objects of sense... [9]
The great elements, egoism, intellect, the unmanifest (viz., Prakriti), also the ten senses, the one (manas), the five objects of sense... [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Your own mind is your best friend when mastered; your worst enemy when not.
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, ego — these eight are the divisions of My lower nature.
Sitting still while the mind craves sense-objects is not discipline — the Gita calls it hypocrisy.
'I do nothing' — continued: speaking, releasing, grasping, blinking: senses move among sense-objects, not I.
Bodily tapas: honouring Devas/dvija/guru/wise; purity, straightforwardness, brahmacarya, non-injury.
Knowledge, action, and agent are each three-fold by guṇa-distinction — as declared in the guṇa-science. Hear them.
Verse 6 of 34 · back to Chapter 13